The present invention generally concerns air purifying devices for enclosed rooms, and more particularly a device for removing ammonia from air.
Ammonia is used in numerous technological processes in rooms necessarily occupied by persons working with the ammonia processes or in close proximity with machines that function with ammonia, such as the quite common ammonia wet diazo process for developing blueprints. Since ammonia is a highly volatile substance that readily enters into solution with air, ammonia fumes in such environments frequently become irritating to persons in the room and sometimes even constitute a danger to health. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the United States Government has recently issued regulations limiting the ammonia content in air to fifty (50) parts per million (p.p.m.) in a working environment, yet until the development of this invention, there was no known method and apparatus that could be used to reduce the ammonia content in air in an efficient, inexpensive manner.
The present invention includes an apparatus and method for effectively removing ammonia fumes and odors from the air and thereby reducing the ammonia content in the air to acceptable levels for the comfort and safety of persons in an ammonia-producing environment. In fact, it has been found that the present invention is effective to efficiently and inexpensively reduce the ammonia vapors in the air to less than 5 p.p.m. in a short period of time.